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Chopper | DC to DC Converter
Last updated August 8, 2018 by Electrical4U

DC to DC converter is very much needed nowadays as many

industrial applications are dependent upon DC voltage source.
The performance of these applications will be improved if we use
a variable DC supply. It will help to improve controllability of the
equipments also. Examples of such applications are subway
cars, trolley buses, battery operated vehicles etc. We can control
and vary a constant DC voltage with the help of a chopper.

Chopper is a basically static power electronics device which

converts fixed DC voltage/power to variable DC voltage or power.
It is nothing but a high speed switch which connects and
disconnects the load from source at a high rate to get variable or
chopped voltage at the output.
Chopper can increase or decrease the DC voltage level at its
opposite side. So, chopper serves the same purpose in DC circuit
transfers in case of ac circuit. So it is also known as DC
transformer.

Devices used in Chopper

Low power application : GTO, IGBT, Power BJT, Power MOSFET

etc.
High power application : Thyristor or SCR.
These devices are represented as a switch in a dotted box for
simplicity. When it is closed current can flow in the direction of
arrow only.

1) Step down Chopper :

Step down chopper as Buck converted is used to reduce the i/p

voltage level at the output side. Circuit diagram of a step down
chopper is shown in the adjacent figure.
When CH is turned ON, Vs directly appears across the load as
shown in figure. So Vo = VS.

When CH is turned off, Vs is disconnected from the load. So

output voltage Vo = 0.
The voltage waveform of step down chopper is shown below:
TON → It is the interval in which chopper is in ON state.

TOFF → It is the interval in which chopper is in OFF state.

VS → Source or input voltage.

Vo → Output or load voltage.

T → Chopping period = TON + TOFF

Operation of Step Down Chopper with Resistive

Load

When CH is ON, Vo = VS

When CH is OFF, Vo = 0
Where, D is duty cycle = TON/T.

TON can be varied from 0 to T, so 0 ≤ D ≤ 1. Hence output voltage

Vo can be varied from 0 to VS.

So, we can conclude that output voltage is always less than the
input voltage and hence the name step down chopper is justified.
The output voltage and current waveform of step down chopper
with resistive load is shown below.
Operation Of Step Down Chopper with Inductive
Load
When CH is ON, Vo = VS

When CH is OFF, Vo = 0

During ON time of Chopper

Therefore, peak to peak load current,
During OFF Time of Chopper

If inductance value of L is very large, so load current will be

continuous in nature. When CH is OFF inductor reverses its
polarity and discharges. This current freewheels through diode
FD.
By equating (i) and (ii)

So, from (i) we get,

The output voltage and current waveform of step down chopper
with inductive load is shown below

2) Step up Chopper or Boost Converter :

Step up chopper or boost converter is used to increase the input

voltage level of its output side. Its circuit diagram and waveforms
are shown below in figure.
Operation of Step up Chopper

When CH is ON it short circuits the load. Hence output voltage

during TON is zero. During this period inductor gets charged. So,
VS = V L
Where, ∆I is the peak to peak inductor current.

When CH is OFF inductor L discharges through the load. So, we

will get summation of both source voltage VS and inductor
Voltage VL as output voltage, i.e.
Now, by equating (iii) and (iv),
As we can vary TON from 0 to T, so 0 ≤ D ≤ 1. Hence VO can be
varied from VS to ∞. It is clear that output voltage is always
greater than the input voltage and hence it boost up or increase
the voltage level.

Buck-Boost Converter or Step Up Step Down

Converter
With the help of Buck-Boost converter we can increase or
decrease the input voltage level at its output side as per our
requirement. The circuit diagram of this converter is shown
below.
Operation of Buck-Boost Converter
When CH is ON source voltage will be applied across inductor L
and it will be charged.

So VL = VS
When chopper is OFF inductor L reverses its polarity and
discharges through load and diode, So.

By evaluating (v) and (vi) we get,

Taking magnitude we get,

D can be varied from 0 to one.

When, D = 0; Vo = 0

When D = 0.5, Vo = VS
When, D = 1, Vo = ∞

Hence, in the interval 0 ≤ D ≤ 0.5, output voltage varies in the

range 0 ≤ VO ≤ VS and we get step down or Buck operation.

Whereas, in the interval 0.5 ≤ D ≤ 1, output voltage varies in the

range VS ≤ VO ≤ ∞ and we get step up or Boost operation.
According to direction of output voltage and current
Semiconductors devices used in chopper circuit are
unidirectional. But arranging the devices in proper way we can
get output voltage as well as output current from chopper in our
required direction. So, on the basis of this features chopper can
be categorized as follows :
Before detailed analysis some basic idea regarding Vo – Io
quadrant is required here.

The directions of Io and Vo marked in the figure-1 is taken as

positive direction.

If output voltage (Vo) and output current (Io) follows the direction
as marked in figures then the chopper operation will be restricted
in the first quadrant of Vo – Io plane. This type of operation is also
known as forward motoring.
When output voltage (Vo) follows the marked direction in fig. 1
but current flows in the opposite direction then Vo is taken
positive but Io as negative. Hence the chopper operates in the
second quadrant of Vo – Io plane. This type of operation is also
known as forward braking.
It may also happen that both output voltage and current is
opposite to the marked direction in figure – 1. In t his case both
Vo and Io are taken as negative. Hence chopper operation is
restricted in third quadrant of Vo-Io plane. This operation is called
reverse motoring.

If output voltage is opposite to the marked direction in fig. 1. then

it is taken as negative. But output current follows the direction as
marked in fig. 1 and considered as positive. Hence chopper
operates in 4th quadrant of Vo – Io plane. This mode of operation
is called reverse braking.

Now we can proceed to detailed analysis of different types of

chopper. Some choppers operate in a single quadrant only, which
are called single quadrant chopper. Some choppers operate in
two quadrant also which are known as two quadrant chopper. It
is also possible that a chopper operates in all the quadrants,
which are known as 4-quadrant chopper.

Type-A Chopper
It is a single quadrant chopper whose operation is restricted in
first quadrant of Vo – Io plane. The circuit diagram is shown as
below :
When CH is ON both Vo and Io follows the direction as marked in
the figures. So, both are taken as positive hence load power is
positive which means power is delivered from source to land.

When CH is OFF current freewheels through diode. Hence Vo is

zero and Io is positive.

In type-A chopper it is seen that average value of Vo and Io is

always positive. This is also called step down chopper as
average value of Vo is less than the input voltage. This type of
chopper is suitable for motoring operation.
Type-B Chopper

This is also a single quadrant chopper operating in second

quadrant of Vo – Io plane. The circuit diagram is shown in the
following figure.
It is interesting to note that load must have a DC voltage source E
for this kind of operation.

When CH is ON Vo is zero but current flows in the opposite

direction as marked in figure. When chopper is OFF.

Which exceeds the source voltage VS. So current flows through

diode D and treated as negative.

Hence current Io is always negative here but Vo is positive

(sometimes zero). So, power flows from load to source and
operation of type-B chopper is restricted in second quadrant of
Vo – Io plane. This type of chopper is suitable for forward braking
operation.

Type-C Chopper
This is a two quadrant chopper whose operation is bounded
between first and second quadrant of Vo – Io plane. This type of
chopper obtained by connecting type-A and type-B chopper in
parallel as shown in the figure.
When CH1 is ON current flows through abcdefa and inductor L
will be charged. Hence output voltage Vo and current Io both will
be positive. When CH1 is OFF, induction will discharge through D1
and current Io will flow through same direction with zero output
voltage. So, we can see the operation of CH1 is nothing but the
operation of type-A chopper by which we can operate a chopper
in the first quadrant.
When CH2 is ON, output voltage Vo will be zero but output current
Io will flow in opposite direction of current shown in the figure
and inductor will be charged up. When CH2 is OFF Output
voltage.

Which exceeds the value of source voltage VS. So current flows

through diode D2 and treated as negative. Hence output voltage
Vo is always positive and output current Io is always negative
here. We can see operation of CH2 is nothing but operation of
type-B chopper by which we can operate the chopper in the
second quadrant.

We can conclude that the operation of type-C chopper is the

combined operation of type-A and type-B chopper. This type of
chopper is suitable for both forward motoring and forward
braking operation.

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